The noise accompanying the new free trade agreement between US, Mexico and Canada

By K.C. ADAMS

Since President Trump’s inauguration in 2017, the Trudeau Liberals and their retinue in the mass media and trade union movement have hysterically bleated about the demise of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They have presented Trump’s threat to walk away from NAFTA as a grave danger to Canada’s economy and saving the trade agreement as akin to saving Canada from collapse. The mass media generated a three-ring circus of non-stop “will they agree or not,” “will Trump pull the plug or not,” “will Freeland appear on the steps to make an announcement or not.”

The purpose behind this madness seems to have been to convince Canadians that they were wrong about NAFTA when they opposed it, from the beginning in 1994, just as they opposed the earlier Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. Canadians have consistently insisted that they want more control over their economy, not less, which is what imperialist globalization has meant.

The constant bleating that without a NAFTA agreement all is doomed was designed to tell Canadians to give up any hope of building an independent self-reliant Canadian economy, one that could trade with the U.S. on an equal basis for mutual benefit without the overbearing U.S.-dominated financial oligarchy dictating our every move and telling us how to live and organize our lives. The Trudeau/Freeland histrionics during this NAFTA charade were to convince us to rally behind saving NAFTA and place our future in the hands of the U.S. oligopolies and their Homeland Security and war on terror, and endless predatory wars of invasion and regime change and geopolitical calculations.

The Trudeau pro-NAFTA ruckus was to silence any voice for a pro-social alternative and drown out any discussion suggesting a possible new direction for the country in opposition to U.S. dictate. The Liberal sellouts and their vassals in the media and certain leaders in the trade union movement present the new NAFTA deal with a sigh of relief that somehow Canadians have escaped the worst wrath of Trump and can now breathe easier.

But the modern world is not easier, safer or more credible when the ruling imperialist elite in business, politics and the media deliberately disinform the people. The nature of international trade and who holds the power over it provide the framework within which everything is negotiated, settled and decided. The people have no say in the matter and have not given their consent. Working people in the U.S., Mexico and Canada have not even been able to discuss international trade, discover the facts of the issue in a calm atmosphere, or explore other possibilities. The dictate is further capitulation to the supranational oligopolies whose only interest is to serve narrow private gain.

There is now a done deal. During the week leading up to the deal, Trump was denouncing Trudeau and damning Freeland in no uncertain terms. All that is now forgiven as Canada remains open for business with its human and natural potential under the control of U.S. imperialism. The financial oligarchy has once again secured North America as a base to achieve its striving for world domination.

For Canadians, the problem poses itself as the necessity for democratic renewal and empowerment, to make their voices heard so that matters of concern to the polity are brought under its control.

TML Weekly, October 6, 2018 – No. 34